diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 43f8f522f41..90b1b483e00 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -261,6 +261,7 @@ v 8.9.0
   - Add rake task 'gitlab:db:configure' for conditionally seeding or migrating the database
   - Changed the Slack build message to use the singular duration if necessary (Aran Koning)
   - Fix race condition on merge when build succeeds
+  - Added shortcut to focus filter search fields and added documentation #18120
   - Links from a wiki page to other wiki pages should be rewritten as expected
   - Add option to project to only allow merge requests to be merged if the build succeeds (Rui Santos)
   - Added navigation shortcuts to the project pipelines, milestones, builds and forks page. !4393
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/issuable.js.coffee b/app/assets/javascripts/issuable.js.coffee
index c71d4ecf505..7f795f8096b 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/issuable.js.coffee
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/issuable.js.coffee
@@ -32,13 +32,11 @@ issuable_created = false
           $search = $('#issue_search')
           $form = $('.js-filter-form')
           $input = $("input[name='#{$search.attr('name')}']", $form)
-
           if $input.length is 0
             $form.append "<input type='hidden' name='#{$search.attr('name')}' value='#{_.escape($search.val())}'/>"
           else
             $input.val $search.val()
-
-          Issuable.filterResults $form
+          Issuable.filterResults $form if $search.val() isnt ''
         , 500)
 
   initLabelFilterRemove: ->
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/projects_list.js.coffee b/app/assets/javascripts/projects_list.js.coffee
index e4c4bf3b273..a7d78d9e461 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/projects_list.js.coffee
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/projects_list.js.coffee
@@ -5,13 +5,12 @@
     this.initPagination()
 
   initSearch: ->
-    @timer = null
-    $(".projects-list-filter").on('keyup', ->
-      clearTimeout(@timer)
-      @timer = setTimeout(ProjectsList.filterResults, 500)
-    )
+    projectsListFilter = $('.projects-list-filter')
+    debounceFilter = _.debounce ProjectsList.filterResults, 500
+    projectsListFilter.on 'keyup', (e) ->
+      debounceFilter() if projectsListFilter.val() isnt ''
 
-  filterResults: =>
+  filterResults: ->
     $('.projects-list-holder').fadeTo(250, 0.5)
 
     form = null
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/shortcuts.js.coffee b/app/assets/javascripts/shortcuts.js.coffee
index 3319a67a79d..8c8689bacee 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/shortcuts.js.coffee
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/shortcuts.js.coffee
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@ class @Shortcuts
   constructor: (skipResetBindings) ->
     @enabledHelp = []
     Mousetrap.reset() if not skipResetBindings
-    Mousetrap.bind('?', @onToggleHelp)
-    Mousetrap.bind('s', Shortcuts.focusSearch)
-    Mousetrap.bind(['ctrl+shift+p', 'command+shift+p'], @toggleMarkdownPreview)
+    Mousetrap.bind '?', @onToggleHelp
+    Mousetrap.bind 's', Shortcuts.focusSearch
+    Mousetrap.bind 'f', (e) => @focusFilter e
+    Mousetrap.bind ['ctrl+shift+p', 'command+shift+p'], @toggleMarkdownPreview
     Mousetrap.bind('t', -> Turbolinks.visit(findFileURL)) if findFileURL?
 
   onToggleHelp: (e) =>
@@ -32,10 +33,16 @@ class @Shortcuts
           $('.js-more-help-button').remove()
     )
 
+  focusFilter: (e) ->
+    @filterInput ?= $('input[type=search]', '.nav-controls')
+    @filterInput.focus()
+    e.preventDefault()
+
   @focusSearch: (e) ->
     $('#search').focus()
     e.preventDefault()
 
+
 $(document).on 'click.more_help', '.js-more-help-button', (e) ->
   $(@).remove()
   $('.hidden-shortcut').show()
diff --git a/app/views/help/_shortcuts.html.haml b/app/views/help/_shortcuts.html.haml
index 8cc0b59edeb..ce4536ebdc6 100644
--- a/app/views/help/_shortcuts.html.haml
+++ b/app/views/help/_shortcuts.html.haml
@@ -18,6 +18,10 @@
                 %td.shortcut
                   .key s
                 %td Focus Search
+              %tr
+                %td.shortcut
+                  .key f
+                %td Focus Filter
               %tr
                 %td.shortcut
                   .key ?